Saturday, April 15, 2006

BusMan in the Midwest

Last week was a great BusMan week, and a disappointing BusMan week. On Monday I was in Ann Arbor visiting my daughter (no, I did not take the bus from California to Ann Arbor; then again, planes are kind of like buses, aren't they?). I had a Tuesday meeting in Chicago. So I took the Amtrak train from Ann Arbor to Chicago Union Station. Such a lovely ride. A little less than 5 hours. Quiet, pretty southern Michigan countryside. Great trip. My Tuesday meeting was in a hotel near O'Hare airport. So from Union Station I took the Blue Line el to O'Hare, where I caught the hotel shuttle to my hotel. I could have taken a cab from downtown Union Station to my hotel, but I think it would have been slower because of rush hour traffic. The el goes on a dedicated line right down the middle of the freeway. Ha ha, people in cars! And, of course, the el cost $1.25 compared to $60 for a cab.

The disappointing part of the week is that on Thursday I had a 4:00 p.m. appointment in Santa Monica. I thought it would be perfect to take the bus down Wilshire from my office. But the bus ran too infrequently. At that time of day it was every 20-30 minutes. I would have had to leave my office 45 minutes earlier than if I drove. So I drove. Boo! Bad BusMan.

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About Me

I was born in 1952, a second generation Los Angeles native. LA traffic is terrible and getting worse. Getting people out of cars and into public transportation seems like the best solution to this mess. The transit system is much better than I thought it was, but it needs improvement. It must be Clean, Fast, Safe and Go Everywhere.